Mid-States to leave old junior/senior high by next week

• Old Ellsworth junior/senior high school building

People in Ellsworth hope the old junior/senior high school building will be cleaned-up when Mid-States Closeouts leaves

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The old junior/senior high school building on Chestnut Street in Ellsworth is the place many residents in the community went to school. Many memories are within its walls.

But over the past couple of years, the building has become an eyesore, a source of complaint and concern from neighbors in the residential area surrounding it. A literal trash dump on the outside and, inside, even worse. It was so bad it was even subject to a federal raid and a Pierce County Health Department shutdown a few months ago.

Village officials are hoping the departure of the Mid-State Closeouts business, which used the building as a warehouse, officially by the middle of next week will be a big step in helping fix the problems at the building. But its future remains unclear.

Officially, Mid-States is leaving the building due to zoning violations. They started moving out over a week ago.

Ellsworth Village Zoning Administrator Greg Engeset said the building was zoned commercial Class I with the agreement a store and living quarters would be put into the building. This agreement allowed Mid-States to essentially use the building as a warehouse, with truck traffic coming into the neighborhood around it.

For more please read the April 7 print version of the Herald.

Tags: local news, local business, news, ellsworth, school